Plate joinery permits accurate and secure attachment of workpieces connected at a joint. Typical plate joinery requires a device for making a plunge cut or kerf in a joint surface designed for receipt of a plate (also called a biscuit, wafer, or spline) of compressed wood or other material. Oppositely disposed grooves are cut into each piece of wood to be joined. Then glue and a plate is placed within each groove, and the plates are allowed to expand from application of the glue. The expansion of the glued biscuit in the opposing cuts provides an accurate, strong woodworking joint. Accordingly, plate joinery provides a strong, simple, and relatively long-lasting joint for use in the field of woodworking.
Hand held plate joiner devices are generally comprised of a handle, a motor unit and a rotating cutter. A portion of the housing contacts a joint surface, and the rotating cutter is then operably moved toward and engages a portion of the joint surface at the location of the desired cut. The rotating cutter then cuts into the joint surface and is retracted. Particular advantages of plate joinery over other joint-forming methods includes the aesthetic result and overall efficiency.
However, proper plate joinery requires precision cuts of predetermined depth and location in the corresponding workpieces. Improper placement of a blade section of a plate joining machine with respect to a workpiece surface may result in misalignment between cuts in opposing workpieces and in improper orientation of the cut with respect to the joint surfaces, resulting in misaligned workpiece and/or joint surfaces. For example, substantial misalignment may occur between workpieces which have only minor differences in thickness, or open joints may occur. Most prior art portable plate joiners are capable of referencing the approximate location of a plunge cut using various means. However, no prior art devices provide means for transporting and then securely mounting a portable plate joiner in the work vicinity so that workpieces may be accurately supported by the device and so that the user's hands may be free during the operation of the device. This is important because proper orientation of plunge cuts into workpieces depends greatly on the balance, support, and alignment of the workpiece with respect to the cutter.
What has been needed, therefore, has been a bench mountable joining machine having means for supporting and positioning a workpiece while making a slot-like plunge cut into a joint surface of the workpiece. What has been further needed is a bench mountable joining machine having support means to provide adjustable support for a workpiece and to allow the user's hands to be free from contact with either the joining machine or the workpiece during powered operation.